Morning Edition

Weekdays 5:00 - 8:00 a.m.

Morning Edition provides news in context, airs thoughtful ideas and commentary, and reviews important new music, books, and events in the arts. All with voices and sounds that invite listeners to experience the stories.

It's mid-July, and winter has finally ended in Boston — at least symbolically. On Tuesday, Boston's mayor announced that the giant pile of dirty snow left over from the city's record-breaking snowfall had finally melted.

The seven-story snow tower took so long to thaw out that there was a citywide contest to guess when it would go away. In response to the news, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker tweeted: "Our nightmare is finally over!"

It's like The Incredible Journey, except if the pets had to cross the Sahara.

A cat stowed away under the hood of a pickup truck, and survived a 28-mile ride with the hot engine as the vehicle was driven from Pennsylvania to the parking lot of Mars Chocolate headquarters in New Jersey.

People walking by heard purring from the engine — even after it was switched off.

The kitty was quickly dubbed "Mars" — after the chocolate, or perhaps more appropriately, the fiery-red planet.

Saroj is a cook at a public school in her village, Dujana, in the northern Indian state of Haryana. Like most people in this state, she doesn't have a last name.

She walks to work down narrow streets of concrete homes with cows and buffaloes outside. She is short, only about 5 feet 2, but she walks tall and confident in her traditional mustard-colored tunic and pants. Her tanned face is framed by big, dark eyes and a square jaw.

As Saroj passes an old man sitting outside a house, she leans in close to me and starts whispering.

Paul and Sheena Wain were on their way to the Maldives for vacation — but when they tried to check in for their flight in Manchester, England, the airline turned them down, saying their 14-year-old daughter Grace appeared pale, maybe sick.